Frozen food package



FROZEN FooD PACKAGE 2 Sheds-Sheet 1 Filed July 26, 1946 nvefuarf Ewan May 17, 1949. F. L. BRoERr-:N ErAL FROZEN FOOD PACKAGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 26, 1945 Patented May 17, 1949 FROZEN FOOD PACKAGE Frank L. Broeren, George E. Wanda, and Robert Kuehl, Neenah, Wis., assignors to Marathon Corporation, Rothschild, Wis.,a corporation of Wisconsin Application my 2s, 194s. serial No. 686,368 7 claims. (ci. 99-192) This invention relates to a package and carton for packaging foods and similar products which are subject to dehydration when stored at temperatures below 30 F; The package is provided with a pad of absorbent material which can be moistened or saturated with water and which will provide a seal for the package when frozen and act as a reservoir of moisture in the package from which the surrounding air can Withdraw moisture.

Formerly in the packaging of foods and other products which are subject to dehydration and are stored at below freezing temperatures, it was necessary in order to deter dehydration to seal the contents of the package in a bag before placing it in the carton or to use a sealed overwrap. Products packaged in this manner were still subject to some dehydration because they did not contain moisture aside from the product itself which would supply moisture for the normal de'- hydration which occurs through the bag or overwrap.

In order to overcome this difficulty, we have provided a pad of absorbent material within the package which can be moistened and either positioned or adhered by suitable means to the inner portion of the lid of the carton or placed on the top of the packaged product before closing such lid.

Further objects and advantages of this 'invention will be apparent from the following specification and drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a carton made in accordance with our invention, i

Figure 2 is a fragmental plan view ofthe carton blank illustrating the absorbent pad attached to the cover, t.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional drawing taken n lines 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on lines 4-I of Figure 1, Y

'Figure 5 is a perspective view of a completed package, partially`broken away, made from the carton illustrated in Figure 1, and v Figure 6 is an enlarged/sectional view taken on lines 6 6 of Figure 5.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a carton of any suitable construction comprising a tray or receptacle portion Il and a cover portion II hinged thereto. The cover portion may be absorbent pad or layer I2 extending over the entire inner face of the cover and preferably extending beyond the margins or score lines of the top cover panel so as to form marginal extenf size which is larger in all dimensions than the overall dimensions of the lid and it is placed in the lid I I or on the product 25 before closing so that there is an equal overlap along all score lines. For convenience the pad is preferably adhered to the lid.

Either before or after the product 25 is placed in the carton the pad I2 is moistened or saturated with water. When the carton is closed as shown in Figure 5, the lid I I, the folded over marginal portions Il, I5, I6 and I1 of the moist pad I2 and the outer top edges of the side walls of the receptacle or tray portion of the carton come in contact. The closed carton is then subjected to freezing temperatures and the freezing of the water in the pad II will form an ice seal between the lid II, pad I2, and tray portion III of the carton.

If the product is stored at below freezing temperatures for a period of time, the surrounding air will cause the evaporation of this ice seal because there is more moisture in the seal than in the surrounding air. After the seal has evaporated the pad I2 will act as a reservoir of moisture from which the air can draw moisture, thus tending to retard the dehydration of the packaged productv 25 inasmuch as the moisture is more readily available from the frozen pad I2 than from the product 25. v

We have found that it is preferable to have the pad I2 composed of multi-ply crepe paper wadding laminated to a backing sheet of glassine and the like, and the glassine side of such pad adhered to the inner face of the lid of the carton integrally hinged to the tray portion or may be a v separate cover which is adapted to be telescoped over the tray portion. One of the novel features our invention resides in providing the inner face of the cover portion with a suitable waterby a. suitable moistureproof adhesive I3 such as wax and the like. If desired the moistureproof backing sheet I0 may be directly heat-sealed to the cover Il. However, if the crepe Waddingglassine combination is used, so that the product will not come in contact with the crepe wadding,

we have found that the crepe wadding may be adhered to the lid of the carton by a suitable adhesive and the. glassine or similar sheet material presented toward the product, but if this method is used it is necessary that a series of holes be punched in the glassine to allow the moisture which is held by the crepe wadding to escape and to form the ice seal. We have found it convenient to adhere the absorbent pad to the inner face of the cover, but as previously explained the pad may be merely positioned in contact with the inner face of the cover without necessarily adh'ered thereto. Also if desired we may iill the receptacle portion with the food to be packaged and then place an absorbent pad of the character previously described saturated with water and of suitable dimensions on the open end of the receptacle so as to completely cover same, after which the cover is then placed on the receptacle.

Formerly in the packaging of foods or other products which will be stored at below freezing temperaturesl a certain amount of air was left inthe package when it was sealed and this air, caused some dehydration of the product. A package embodying this invention does not have this disadvantage inasmuch as when the package is closed the soft pad on the lid or on the product forces more air out of the package. The moisture in the absorbent pad l2 upon freezing provides a relatively thin layer of ice which completely seals the upper open end of the receptacle so that the contents are fully protected against moisture loss as previously explained.

It is to be understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the construction of the package herein disclosed which are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A frozen food package comprising a receptacle portion filled with frozen food, and a cover 4o portion, said cover being provided with an exposed moisture-absorbent layer on the inner face thereof and in direct contact with said food, said absorbent layer being substantially saturated with water and frozen for sealing the said food within said receptacle portion.

2. A frozen food package comprising a receptacle portion filled with frozen food, and a cover portion, said cover being provided with an eX- posed moisture-absorbent creped paper layer on the inner face thereof and in direct contact with said food, said absorbent layer being substantially saturated with water and frozen for sealing the said food within said receptacle portion.

3. A frozen food package comprising a receptacle portion illed with frozen food, and a cover portion, an exposed moisture absorbent layer adhered to the inner face of said cover portion and in direct contact with said food, said absorbent layer being substantially saturated with water and frozen for sealing the said food within said receptacle portion.

4. A frozen food package comprising a receptacle portion lled with frozen food, and a cover portion, said cover being provided with an exposed moisture absorbent layer on the inner face thereof in direct contact with said food and extending beyond the marginal edges thereof and about the outer upper edges of said receptacle portion, said absorbent layer being substantially saturated with Water and frozen for sealing the said food within said receptacle portion.

5. A frozen food package comprising a receptacle'portion filled with frozen food, and a cover portion, said coverbeing provided with an exposed moisture-absorbent creped paper layer on the inner face thereof, a backing sheet of glassine adhered to said creped paper layer, said absorbent layer being substantially saturated with water and frozen in direct contact with said food for sealing the said food within said receptacle portion.

6. A frozen food package comprising a receptacle portion filled with frozen food, an exposed absorbent pad completely covering the open end of said receptacle portion, said pad being substantially saturated with water and frozen to form 1a layer of ice for sealing said receptacle porion.

7. A frozen food package comprising a receptacle portion filled with frozen food, an exposed absorbent pad completely covering the open end of said receptacle portion and overlapping the upper side walls thereof, said pad being substantially saturated with Water and frozen to form a layer of ice for sealing said receptacle portion.

FRANK L. BROEREN. GEORGE E. WAUDA. ROBERT KUEHL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

